If foot-and-mouth disease did occur in Australia, everyone who works with livestock could help to reduce the economic and social impacts of an outbreak by being vigilant for the signs of the disease and reporting it immediately to a veterinarian. The faster an outbreak is detected, the sooner it can be stopped.

What is foot-and-mouth disease?

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly infectious viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals including sheep, cattle, pigs, goats, buffalo, camels, alpaca, llama and deer. It does not affect non-cloven hoofed animals such as horses, dogs, cats or birds. It is not the same as hand, foot and mouth disease in people.

Although many affected animals may survive foot-and-mouth disease, they take a long time to recover and often do not regain their full productivity. Surviving animals may also become carriers of the virus.

Foot-and-mouth disease is not present in Australia, which increases our access to livestock and livestock product export markets.

What are the signs of foot-and-mouth disease in animals?

Signs of foot-and-mouth disease vary depending on the species infected and the strain of the virus.

Blisters form in the mouth, nostrils, on teats, and on the skin between and above the hoofs of cloven-footed animals. Foot-and-mouth disease reduces productivity and may kill young animals. Note that in sheep the signs are often mild and difficult to see and lameness may be the only visible sign.

Signs include:

blisters (vesicles) in the mouth, nostrils, teats or on the feet. These blisters are often not obvious until they have ruptured. Blisters in sheep are usually small and difficult to see

slobbering/drooling

lameness, reluctance to move

severe depression

lack of appetite

sudden death in young animals

a large drop in milk yield in dairy animals

abortion in pigs.

Animals usually show signs of foot-and-mouth disease within 3–5 days of infection, but signs can take up to 14 days to appear. Infected animals spread the virus before they show signs of the disease.

Why should I report foot-and-mouth disease signs?

The sooner foot-and-mouth disease is recognised and reported, the sooner its spread can be stopped.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) estimates that a large, multi-state outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease would cost the Australian economy up to $52 billion over 10 years.

Minimising the spread of the disease through early detection and reporting will reduce the devastating economic and social costs of an outbreak to livestock producers, the livestock and regional industries and the national economy.

How would foot-and-mouth disease enter Australia?

The most likely way that foot-and-mouth disease could enter Australia is by the illegal importation of meat and dairy products, which can carry foot-and-mouth disease virus.

Pigs are highly susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease and can become infected if they eat products carrying the virus. Once infected, pigs produce large quantities of virus, which can spread to other livestock.

To prevent foot-and-mouth disease and other serious diseases, it is illegal to feed pigs anything that:

contains meat, meat products, or any other products from mammals

has had contact with meat, meat products or any other products from mammals.